Which school is better academically? I am looking into Graduate Schools and was curious, which should I go for a school with the better Grad school program or better overall university? I have a Bachelor's Degree in History and Education. Thanks for your thoughts and advice.
I can't speak to individual programs, but Penn State is better regarded in terms of overall academic quality.
Go for the better grad program in your discipline. The overall numbers don't matter at all. The only caveat is if you want to live in either state, choose that state's institution.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/natudoc/natudoc_pub_brief.php Here is the rankings for overall best public universities. By the way, my wife attended Univ. of IL (Champaign-Urbana) and she graduated right near the top of her high school graduating class from one of the best high schools in the country.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/edu/brief/edurank_brief.php Best Grad School Education Programs: MSU #14 PSU #34
And? I don't see what the point of that was. Does Ohio State offer this program? They have an excellent education school.
Umm, no. Not with regard to graduate education and programs. It's hard to make accurate comparisons in online programs, because most of them are so new. Is there any on-campus component? Will you take all of your classes online? That may affect the reputation from the program. If you're using this as a career advancement/resume enhancement M.A., it probably won't make that much difference either way. In that case, I'd make my decision based on cost, convenience, how closely connected the program is to the actual department. Slightly off-topic: Generally, with graduate programs you look at the specific department rather than the university as a whole (even though a number of "ranking" services give you a universitywide rank). The program or department evaluations tend to be more accurate (although it's easy for their to be a lag and programs to rest on their reputation). For example, Wisconsin used to have a very strong comm department, but because of internal politics, numerous faculty defections, it's a shadow of what it once was. Penn State, on the other hand, has spent a lot of money on its comm department recently (including just recruiting the last big name comm faculty member at Wisconsin). So it is definitely an up-and-coming department in communications. If I were a grad student in communications and choosing between the two, I'd definitely go with Penn State over Wisconsin--even though Wisconsin has a higher overall reputation. Back on topic: Unless you're seeking an academic career, it's likely going to be six on one and half a dozen on the other.
Sorry...just wanted to brag about about my wife. OSU doesn't have any distance learning or on-line programs.
when push comes to shove, barring northwestern/uofm, all the big 10 schools are basically the same. each have programs where they are the better/worse than others, but on the whole, they can all be lumped together. for education, MSU is a better school.
By the way, Penn State, Michigan State, and Univ. of Illinois are all considered "Public Ivies". I was rather impressed and shocked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_ivies
That's practically half the flagship state schools in the nation (and from the most populous states). I wouldn't really read too much into that.
Look at the faculty in each department and see what they're working on. Among other things, once you start a graduate program, you'll be expected to function more as a junior colleague than simply as student, by which I mean someone who's got his own targeted areas of study and research ideas. To make that work, you'll want to have someone who's working in the same or at least a similar area to act as a mentor/advisor. You could be in for a lonely, frustrating experience otherwise. Many admissions committees will consider the fit of an applicant's scholarly interests as a major factor in deciding who gets in, too. And by the same token, if you think there's somebody you want to work with at a department based solely on their publications, you might consider a visit to meet them. You never know, they might be a horse's ass. One thing I do know about MSU as an undergraduate institution is that it's got one of the best (if not THE best) internship and study abroad programs in the country. I don't know if this carries over into the graduate programs or not.
I spent some time at Penn State while my wife was finishing her undergrad degree. I took four classes there, and they were four of the best classes I have ever taken... and I went to six different universities from freshman year through my master's degree. I think you should go to Penn State!!!